# THE PRESSURE

We have found ourselves drowning in a digital ocean, struggling to keep our head above water.

#ThePressure - Auckland Dance Company's 2015 sold out mid-year cabaret show, rose out of this realisation.

We are constantly on edge - time-poor - in a race against that "seen" badge. Consistently reminded that we need to Be More. More beautiful, more wealthy, more healthy, more present, more popular, more extroverted, better, stronger, more loved.

Art, music, and expression is universal. And our premise is simple. Dance is a powerful tool, allowing us to engage our audience on a deeper level, and create an open and interactive awareness for our growing and ever-hungry student base. It is not just an education or a hobby - it's a religion. Expressing a choreography can be a cathartic experience for our performers... And for the audience, it can be a heart-wrenching, beautiful, and even enlightening one.

The show featured songs and choreography which embodied different stories within #ThePressure theme, inspired in part by the personal stories of our cast. "Chandalier" by Sia, the title track "The Pressure" by Jhene Aiko, and Womanizer - an iconic Britney track - all created with the intention to transform the collective societal pressures that were weighing us all down, into works of Art.